Tin fl&emortam. 



Zhe Algetic Circle 



of 



Ikate'e /ilbountain* 



"flnvohe we tbose bilgbt JBeings, one b? one." 



0L1Z3 Lll 9X0 



ssaaoNoo do Aawaan 



PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. 



The first edition of this charming Memorial, which was printed 
for private distribution, having been exhausted, and many requests 
having been made for copies, that could not be supplied, permis- 
sion has been given us by the Author to issue an edition for general 
circulation, with instructions to devote the proceeds to the Jefferson 
Davis Monument Fund. 

WEST, JOHNSTON & CO. 
Richmond, Va., July 22, 1895. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



THE jMYSTIC CIRCLE 



Kate's Mountain 



i 860- 1 805. 



Htcfymonb, Va.: 

Whittet & Shepperson, General Printers. 
1895 



2,011- 



-H 



7 



*.Y 



Coptkigiit. 1895. 
BY 

WEST, JOHNSTON & CO. 






DEDICATION. 



This reprint of an old society poem is affectionately inscribed 
to the memories of the dead, and to the friendships of the living, 
whom, upon a festive occasion, it was sportively attempted to 
portray in just profile of person and character; and with these, 
and this inscription, can but be associated one who is intimately 
connected by tender ties with some of the most prominent and 
dearly cherished of them all, and at whose suggestion this reprint 
is made, my attached sister, Mrs. Rebecca Williams Howard, of 
Baltimore. Haply, it may serve the more vividly to recall to the 
living the lineaments of the departed, and of each other, in the 
golden light of a beautiful day of pure and earnest enjoyment. 



PREFACE. 



In the late summer of 1860, which presented the last 
brilliant assemblage at the Greenbrier White Sulphur 
Springs, then in Virginia, of the wealth and distinc- 
tion, fashion and beauty of the Southern States and 
the Northern cities, representative of an unique civiliza- 
tion, now passed away forever, a party of young ladies 
and gentlemen formed the purpose of making a morn- 
ing excursion to Kate's Mountain, some miles distant, 
the highest point of the ranges encircling the Springs, 
and planting upon its summit a signal banner to mark 
and commemorate the height of their conquest. The 
life and buoyancy of each spirit, freed from the formal 
"gaieties of the season," and revelling in the fresh 
splendor of the varied scenery that broke upon the 
view ; the happy hilarity of jests, and quips, and pleas- 
antries; the more serious tete-a-tete here and there, 
ahead or behind, in the winding mountain pathway ; 
the glow of beauty in the toil of the ascent, and the 
gallantry of manly admiration ; the lovely wild flowers 
and the grand old trees in the early autumn air; the 
final achievement of placing upon the tall oak of the 
highest peak an impromptu bunting of waving folds in 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



the kindled breeze ; the relished refreshments, and the 
merry gossip about the Springs people, their court- 
ships and their coteries; the "Mystic Circle" around 
the banner tree, and the tablet of names deposited 
beneath the huge rock at its base ; the earnest vows, 
on each returning year, to repeat the pilgrimage and 
the ceremony ; the kind words and hopes of the part- 
ing moment; the reverse picture below of the fond 
eyes " we left behind us," striving with strained vision 
and telescope to trace the progress of the pedestrians, 
and the burst of gladness, as the glance fell upon the 
waving folds of the pioneer pennon of victory; gay 
scenes and incidents of a gala day of innocent ro- 
mance! (how bright the retrospect! how sad the per- 
spective!) — were thought not unworthy of some special 
memorial, and by particular request, the duty fell upon 
the writer, who, with a long unpracticed hand, made 
an attempt in verse, the result of which was published 
in the Southern Literary Messenger, then an excellent 
and leading periodical of its kind, from which the 
accompanying reprint is made. It is but a fragment ; 
for the idle vacation hours of a young barrister soon 
flew by, and on returning to business and books, the 
pleasing diversion, unfinished, was never resumed. 

Events, which Deity alone could have foreseen, 
ended in the blighted hopes and broken vows of the 
fond dreamers who planned an animal repetition of 
their exhilarating adventure. The Civil War inter- 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 



vened within less than a year, and other banners waved 
upon the mountain tops around the White Sulphur, and 
the roar of musketry and artillery replaced the sweet 
voices of Pleasure and of Love. Nearly the third of a 
century has now passed since the reverberation ceased 
along the astonished hills, and successive summers have 
seen the famous resort thronged as of old, but with new 
faces. Of the gay and brilliant " Mystic Circle," no 
recurring year ever saw again assembled any but 
broken and scattered links, and the lone wanderer 
amid the old scenes could only turn from the revels of 
the strangers around him, and sadly feel, — 

The tender grace of a day that is dead 
Will never come back to me : 

****** 

( )h ! for the touch of a vanished hand 
And the sound of a voice that is still ! 

As to some, the simple head-stone and green mound 
mark the last bivouac of a noble patriot soldier ; others 
have fallen by the way in the no less noble and hopeless 
struggle of after life; and those who remain are rari 
nantes in gnrgite. So far as known, the ladies of the 
party have been the most fortunate of survival, if life 
were a boon to those who deemed the loss of the Con- 
federacy, of property, and of friends, the extinction 
of all that made life worth living, and to whom survival 
has been but the bitter memory of brighter days. But 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



to others, who suffered the same disasters and sorrows, 
yet who remembered that the " duties of life are greater 
than life itself," * and bravely accepted the obligations 
of the strange and difficult situation, and have faithfully 
performed the same, life has, indeed, been well worth 
living, for it has served further to develop, in defeat 
and adversity, what the war had discovered and illus- 
trated, those high and unconquerable qualities of mind 
and heart whose combination constitutes true nobility 
of soul and action. 

Of such were the ladies with whom the excursion to 
Kate's Mountain originated, from whose Cottage it pro- 
ceeded, and to which it returned, then owned and occu- 
pied by the Ritchie branch of the Virginia Harrisons, 
and then and still known as the Harrison Cottage. It 
was in miniature a reflection, as a social centre, and in 
its courtesies and amenities, of their historic home 
of Lower Brandon on-the-James, famed for its ex- 
tensive, cordial and elegant hospitality, and of which 
the English ministers to Washington used to say 
that it reminded them of baronial life on the large 
English estates. The noted Cottage has long since 
passed into other hands, and Brandon itself has, 

* These noble words commenced a letter from Mr. John C. Cal- 
houn to the writer, then a young man at college, who had sought 
his advice as to the choice and pursuit of a profession. It is inter- 
esting to recall that many years afterwards General Lee said, ' ' The 
suhlimest word in the language is Out//." 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 



of necessity, in great measure, ceased to be what it 
was, but the two charming and brilliant social centres 
of the dear past can never be dissociated in the minds 
of any who knew them both. 

Mrs. Isabella H. Harrison, the noble Virginia ma- 
tron who presided over each in season, never, it is be- 
lieved, returned to the White Sulphur after the war ; 
nor did her sister, Miss Virginia Ritchie, the life of 
every pleasure, and whose image in person and 
character, as reproduced in the poem, will be recog- 
nized by her countless friends ; nor did their endeared 
connection and guest, Miss Sarah N. Randolph; and 
the queen of the Springs, the beautiful and enchanting 
Miss Isabelle Ritchie Harrison, the heiress and pride 
of Brandon, never returned but once. 

As to Miss Randolph, now some years deceased, of 
whom the description in the poem will also be easily 
recognized, it is needless to say that she proved her- 
self to be worthy of her distinguished descent by her 
graphic Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, and by 
the founding and successful conduct of institutions of 
learn iug of high grade for female education. These 
results justified the prescience which discovered in the 
modest young maiden high intellectual gifts, concealed 
by her retiring disposition from general recognition — 
gifts, indeed, of which she seemed to be unconscious, 
but of which the subsequent development demon- 
strated the identity of Monticello and Edge Hill. 



10 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



After the war the Brandon family repaired to their 
ancient seat, from which they had been driven early 
in the conflict, and except in summer, and on special 
occasions, have rarely left it. But they knew from what 
sources they were derived, and that noli esse oblige, 
though, from sterling and righteous instincts, not 
needing its inspiration. Only as inseparably asso- 
ciated with the departed may it be permitted further 
to speak of the living, if indeed separation be possible, 
when the lives of each were so blended into one. 
Pardon is craved to say, that the Mother and Sister 
and the Daughter, in common as it were to both in 
mutual affection and devotion, on returning to their 
desecrated and desolate home, in greatly changed cir- 
cumstances, did not "bate one jot of heart or hope," 
but nobly entered upon the duties that God had placed 
before them, and nobly performed them. When a 
great affliction came in the loss of the only male scion 
of the house, dearly beloved by all, and upon whom 
largely rested responsibility for the general welfare, it 
was borne with the magnanimity and resignation of 
Christian faith and fortitude. In adversity, in be- 
reavement, in sickness and health, their quiet, tender 
devotion to each other was a benediction to all around 
them. For the rest, with reduced means, they endeav- 
ored to rehabilitate and make productive the fine old 
estates, Miss Harrison becoming familiar friends with 
her fields and harvests, and enjoying again the beauty 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 11 



of her favorite wild flowers, afterwards to be strewn 
into her grave by her former slaves, then enfranchised, 
and always devoted to her ; they helped to build up 
and sustain their beloved Parish Church, of which 
they had ever been earnest members ; they extended 
the sweet charities and amenities of life to their neigh- 
bors, and did not forget the ancient hospitality, though 
it could not be greatly renewed; they relieved the 
poor and dependent of both races, according to their 
ability; together with the proprietors of the Upper 
Brandon estates they established and supported, long 
before the inauguration of the public school system in 
the State, a school for the children of their colored 
laborers, under the management of a man of thorough 
education, to which Miss Harrison generously con- 
tributed more than her share, and who also herself 
diligently taught a class of colored Sunday scholars, 
a class which had been perpetuated since her child- 
hood, and which was faithfully continued until ill 
health forbade the task. No wonder, therefore, upon 
her recent death and interment, that among the num- 
berless tokens of sympathy and condolence received 
by the bereaved ones from afar and near, and from the 
Bishops of the Church down to the servant who had 
attended her at a summer resort, and among the over- 
flowing tributes of flowers from every source in the 
surrounding counties and from distant cities, nothing 
was more pathetic and beautiful than the heartfelt 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF KA TE'S MOUNTAIN. 



contributions of her colored Sunday pupils, deposited 
by themselves bouquet after bouquet into the floral 
vault prepared by loving hands for the mortal remains. 
Of such Christian consecration to duty the affectionate 
esteem of the highest and humblest alike was the just 
crown and reward. 

Gifted with the inheritance of great wealth, of rare 
beauty, of distinguished birth and position, she was 
always as unassuming as a well-bred child, and by the 
charm of her intelligence, the genial gentleness of her 
disposition and manners, and the honest warmth of a 
sympathetic heart, inspired the devoted love of her 
family and friends, and the sincere admiration and 
regard attested by the general sorrow at her demise. 
80 earnest and noble in its aims, so humble, so pure, 
so tender a soul, seemed less of Earth than Heaven. 
In her gradual retirement from society, induced by 
declining health, Wordsworth's celestial violet was a 
fit emblem of her sweet and lovely life, — 

A violet by a mossy stone, 

Half hidden from the eye : 
Fair as a star when only one 

Is shining in the sky. 

John Howard. 

Richmond, May 16, 1895. 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF 
KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 



i. 

Tlie day had dawned all darkly o'er 
A Sea of Mist from shore to shore ; 
But lo ! the glancing sunbeams free 
Flash far o'er all the snowy sea ; 
The rising wreaths the stars among, 
Blush back the kindling lustres long ; 
And now each bold and lofty height, 
Encircled with its crown of light, 
Rose, grandly beautiful, an isle 
Of emerald in the golden smile 
Of Morning, and the surging tide 
Of spray and splendor, wild and wide, 
Bursting upward, onward driven, 
Melts sublimely into heaven, 
And blue and boundless beamed the view 
Of rolling ridges bathed in dew. 

II. 

Far o'er the circling summits high 
Kate's Mountain kissed the kindled sky, 



14 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



Which shed, in love, its softest showers, 
And sunlight o'er the springing flowers, 
And forests wild, that oft had bowed, 
Yet braved at will the lightning cloud. 
The deep autumnal splendors then 
Scarce yet had purpled glade and glen ; 
Rich summer glories lingered still 
On lowly vale and distant hill ; 
But intermingled, here and there, 
In light and shade, the foliage fair 
Burned bright with varied tints and dyes, 
Born of the mountain breeze and skies, 
While oft the trembling leaflet fell, 
And nestled in the neighboring dell, 
And Iris softened peak and plain, 
And silver Echo rang again, 
And far o'er all the wild romance 
Of Nature's majesty, the glance 
Of pensive beauty fondly smiled, 
As mother o'er her dying child. 

III. 

Such Morn, a circle bright with all 
Of woman's loveliness since the fall, 
And all of manly strength and will, 
Ascended lithely, hill o'er hill, 
Aspiring highest height to scale 
Of peaks that soared above the vale. 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. ^ 



Too grave by half, yet calmly gay, 
A son of science led the way, 
Skilled, through years of toil, to trace 
The nearest line from place to place ; 
And quick his steady footsteps knew 
The course his practiced vision drew. 
All honor to the mind and heart 
That dares to do the nobler part ; 
All honor to the brave, strong will, 
That conquers, but to conquer still, 
And walks through life the steadfast way, 
O'er vales or mountains as they lay! 

IV. 

Scarce sixteen summers' sunlit joy 
Had brightened o'er the manly boy 
That leaped and laughed. along his side, 
And waked the mountain echoes wide. 
Yet, look upon that noble brow 
And beaming eye, and tell me now 
If father's fondest pride or love 
Could ask of God, in heaven above, 
To set a seal of promise there 
Aught brighter than the vision fair ! 
Following after, flowers in hand, 
A little fairy, bright and bland, 
Whose pure, sweet face of love and light 
That manly boy would claim the right, 



16 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



If now but half the truth were known, 
To love and cherish as his own ! 
And look! the tender, fresh surprise 
That sparkles in her dear blue eyes, 
And, rippling, blushes o'er her face, 
As Georgie caught that glance of grace ! 

V. 

Oh! fancy now, alighted here, 
To gild and grace this earthly sphere, 
A being bright with all the love 
And loveliness that beams above, 
With aspirations pure and good, 
With feelings true of womanhood, 
With human hopes and sympathies, 
With sweet and tender charities, 
With noble instincts, noble thought, 
With all a lover's dream had sought. 
Sincere, though humble, patient, kind, 
An earnest heart, an honest mind, 
Alike disdaining pride and pelf, 
Thoughtful of all, except herself, — 
Oh! born, by being blessed, to bless, 
And find her own in others' happiness! 
To watch, to pray, to soothe, to cheer, 
Yield joy for joy, and tear for tear, 
And still her secret hope and aim 
The world should never breathe her name- 



OF KA TW S MO UNTA IN. 1 7 



Her life, a living incense given, 

Of bright devotion's faith to Heaven! 

And yet— and yet— so good, so pure, 

Behold her gifted, half demure, 

Quaint humour, move the gravest face 

To laughter in the gravest place ! 

Of home, the gladness, grace and pride, 

Beloved by all the world, beside, 

'Tis hers to beam a halo gay 

Of brightness o'er the darkest day; 

Kind words, kind ways, for those or these, 

Most pleased, when most she seems to please 

Hers, too, to win, inspire, enchain, 

Like other fair, the sighing train ; 

But yet, unlike the rest, to blend 

And lose the lover in the friend, 

Weep o'er the wounds her charms impart, 

And blighting hope, still keep the heart." 

VI. 

Beside her moved a manly form 

With all the glow of genius warm, 

A gallant and a noble youth, 

Whose gaze was but the glance of truth ; 

For never in a human face 



* Could any one who ever knew her fail to see that this was Mltw 
Virginia Ritchie? 



18 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



Had Nature left a nobler trace, 

And never shone in human eye, 

A soul more pure or spirit high. 

The thought that lighted up each look, 

Each beam of that illumined book, 

Revealed all quickly to the view, 

The mind and feelings, bright and true, 

And told, ere spoke the glowing word, 

Whate'er his inmost bosom stirred. 

VII. 

Next came the maid of classic name 

And beauty, known to love and fame, 

With step elastic as the fawn 

O'er the mountain dew at dawn. 

The morning bloom at " Cottage One," 

Not lovelier than to look upon, 

Nor sweetest wild flower, meekly blown, 

Along the mountain pathway lone. 

She came as comes the dancing light 

On purpling hills, and rapture bright 

Beamed life and laughter from her face 

And form of loveliness and grace. 

Nor purer glowed Auroral flush 

Of sunlight in its sweetest blush, 

Than glowed her soul with thoughts that stirred 

The heart, by lightest smile, or word. 

Nor loftier rose the mountain hicdi 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 19 



Beyond the cloudlets of the sky, 

Than rose that soul, in thought sublime. 

Above the paltry things of time, — 

Rose, brightly pure, in innocence — 

Majestic in its Faith intense — 

Amid, aad yet above the world, 

With waiting wings for Heaven unfurled ! " :: " 

VIII. 

Of kindred blood and kindred heart, 

The queen of every grace and art, 

Where now is she, of womanhood, 

The beautiful, the true and good, 

Maid of the sunny clime and soul, 

Whose accents through you sweetly stole ? 

Tell me not of the tender tone 

( )f lovers when first love is known ; 

Tell me not of the melody 

Of Bulbul's sweetest minstrelsy ; 

Tell me not of the music high 

* " Cottage < toe," at which "morning glories" bloomed, was the 
firsl in " Florida Row," some distance from the Harrison Cottage, 
which was the first in the "Baltimore Row," hut of which the 
respective owners were the kindest of friends. It has been more 
than thirty years since the writer last saw this sweet lady, but he 
has ever remembered her with sincere regard, and is glad to believe 
that the aforesaid wings are still in waiting plume for their destined 
flight. 



20 THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



Of spheres or seraphs in the sky ; 
Give me those accents, soft and low, 
Wherein her thoughts and feelings now, 
That voice of silver sweetness still, 
The heart responsive to its thrill — 
Oh, soft and low, yet brightly clear, 
And plaintive as the pleading tear! 
Far, far away, now lights the sun, 
His glories o'er that gifted one, 
And meets, in beaming eye and cheek, 
The bloom and brightness which bespeak 
His own enriching radiance, less 
Than Nature's noble loveliness. 
And friendship long must weep the day 
Its fondest treasure fled away : 
Bat time, nor distance, cannot steal 
Her image from the heart's own seal, 
Where spite the fatal flight of years, 
Its hopes and sorrows, joys and tears, 
Traced clear in lines of living light, 
Will lingering glow, all pure and bright, 
The form, the face, the soul, the air — 
Her lover's rapture, and despair! 

IX. 

Sedate, though sportive, thoughtful still, 
Behold the bright flower of Edgehill — 
Fair daughter of an ancient line, 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 21 



Of name immortal, race divine! 
Sunlight, the circuit of the suns, 
Genius, though generations runs. 
Touch but a topic, small or great 
Of town, or country, Church or State, 
The quiet radiance of that eye 
Which nought unfathomed glances by, 
Enkindles into graceful glow, 
And words of wisdom fitly flow, 
Sparkling in wit, or humor bright, 
Or bursting into bolder light, 
Till thought and fancy, once awoke, 
Ancestral splendor in her spoke! 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE 



X. 

Oh, fain for pencil bright to trace 
Yon faultless form of native grace ! 
Oh, fain for heaven's own light to twine 
Its living lustres in the line, 
That dares the aspiration high, 
And jet despairs, to speak that eye. 
Whose deep, soft splendor fills and fires 
The heart, its gladness first inspires ; 
The glancing gladness of that smile, 
Unconscious still of aught the while 
Of beauty, genius, goodness, love, 
In blended brightness from above! 
All needless her sweet name to tell ; 
The soul in silence owns its spell, 
And fondly worships fairest Belle ! 



Entered into rest April 19, 1895. 



OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 23 



XL 

See now in bloom as fair a flower 
As blushed in Eden's early bower ; 
Oh, see that sweet and noble brow ! 
The halo of a holy vow, 
Still beaming o'er its light the while, 
And blending with the queenly smile 
That breaks and brightens o'er her face 
As thoughts their pure impressions trace 
Though stately, modest, still her own 
Sweet dignity in all things shone ; 
So gentle, pure, so tender, kind, 
Faultless, to faults of others blind ; 
A heart all open to the call 
Of charity and good-will to all, 
Attempered to the finer sense 
Of feeling, delicate, intense, 
While oft the filling tear may tell, 
The eye but speaks the heart too well ; 
And yet a spirit high, and strong, 
To bear the ill, or brave the wrong, 
And firm as Faith, and Truth and Love, 
To aught its Duty dare approve. 



THE MYSTIC CIRCLE OF KATE'S MOUNTAIN. 



Oh ! turn from gem, or flower, or star, 
That blooms or beams in heaven afar, 
And see in soul-lit beauty bright 
The famed Laburnum's grace and light ! * 

* If, in any case, a more special reference to the living could be 
forgiven, it would be to this lovely and noble woman, a very dear 
friend, whose after life, as wife and mother, has perfectly illustrated 
the truthfulness of the above portraiture, and thus converted her 
bright promise into actual and beautiful realities, — a consummation, 
that, even in her, would have been incredible to a dry old lawyer, 
had he not the happiness to know a like life, the light and delight 
of his own. 



LI 



